Wire-slack-eliminating device



Feb. 4, 1930. 1'. F. DUFFEY' I WIRE SLACK ELIMINATING DEVICE Filed July16, 1927 m N rfl I m 1-- I E l I: If 2 H H N Q Q R -liflim ma N r I v M1WN\ MN N$A s 2 5 I Patented "Feb. 4,' 1930 5 wide a wire slackfeliminating device which I rnaybe engaged with the I wire with facilityr amt-is eq pp w h su abl r s ra nin 4 Figure 1- is asid ATENT I rirHoAsfrRANcIs nnnnnY, F SOB-ANTON, PENNSYLVANIA 1 wlREesLAcK ELIMINATINGDEVICE jApplication filed m 16,

i "I 1' The present invention consists 10f a wire slackeliminatingdevice which is especially adapted for useby .;linemen in'taking' slackout of the line wires preparatory tosplicing the ends thereof,

It is [well-known in the art, to provide I clampswhich are used bylinemen to draw the wires taut, but in using them'itis neces- V sary forthe linemen to leave the pole and not only exposejthemselves to thedangers v .incident to beingsuspendedfrom the cable wire, but the taskis very laborious and tedi- -ous,-it frequently happening thatconditions I prevent the. lineman'from I completely re- 2-lieving-theslack condition in vthe wires. It

is consequently an object of thisinvention to I .provide a device whichmaybe anchored on I and operated from'aline pole-andengageld v c withthe wire inproximity to the pole,

' lowing which the. clamp is urged outwardly on .the wire to l thedesired location, after which the clamp iisj-tightened on thewire' and ha the latter drawn taut'duringwhich operation n me o. not v to e th P 1'Another' obj eeeot the invention 'is to. pro

means to prevent the wire from leaving the V i .O. clampuntilatterthewire has been drawn 1 to the desired degree of tautn ess. f 1 rA; further object Qfthe invention is to. prov videa, wire slackeliminating device in which '-.blocks and tackle are employed and which'3 have engaged therewith' a"suitable anchor hook and a suitablewireclamp means both of which are rigidly ,securedto the blocksv in andclamp and the block's.

I 0 Othenolo'ectsjof the nventionwillbeaptaken in connection wi ththeIaccomp anyingv, I

i a fiend by preferencejsfrigidly secured there- ,to in orderfto preventrelative movement be 31 tween the clamp and block. This is accomjwireslack elimixiatonconstructedin accord ance with the present'.inventionthe tacklefl i l9, thefreefend 20 off-which is of -cir'cular'configurationin cross-section and extends ih egh a semplemsnta nnenin:termed. in

being shownfragmentarily; T

' Figure 2 is 1 a side 'levational view order toprevent any play betweent the hook p Sheaves or pulleys 18 are rotatably mounted inthe block 6andhave intermediate portions 1 0f the tackle 13 trained thereo v'er inan ap-' ..parent manner. 7 i

.19 7. Serial no. 2oe,234;-;.-

' I Figure 3 is a-b V- Om l View the Same; I I

Figure 4 is a detail fragmentary longitudinal'sectional view of the wireclamp per se;

Figure 5 is a detail fragmentary, side elevar' r 1 tionalview of aslightlymodifiedliorm of wire clamp means; and V p h I Figure 6 is adetail fragmentaryplan view,

of a linemans stick foruse in the present in-' vention.

The device of eludes pulley blocks5 and 6, the former being of'thethree-sheave or pulley type and the latter being of the two-sheave orpulleyv type. a

The block 5 embodies a pair of plates 7 which extend completely throughI the blocks, the R rear end thereof having a pulley wheel .8de-

tachably mounted therebetween, -while the i t forward ends thereof'mergeinto the forward terminals of metal straps 9jwhich areembedded in theblock and extend-in parallelism :79 .t'o the plates 7. The forward endsofth'e plates 7 and the forward ends of thestraps -9 are formedintegrahi as illustrated in Fig 7 ures 1 and 2, in order to provideahousing 10' Y I whichis adapted to receive one end of a wire gclampgenerally designated 11,; The block 5 5 has threeQpulleys or, sheaves 12rotatably mountedjtherein over which a tackle or rope 13is trained in amanner well-known in the art. ;Theblock 6 embodies a plate 145 the 1 9in-ne'r end of which terminates at the inner I end ofthe block while theoppositefendextends,appreciably therebeyond and merges into aframe'orhousing 15 A'pair'of metal, I

straps lfiextend from the frame lo completely v3. through thepulleyblock and at their jrear a.

' ends prov ide a'bearing for a pulleywheell? to Whichoneendofthe tackle1 8 .is anchored.

- The umpire mulled upen mug-a P dy y g i the damp-1 ba the r sen inveni n n- 1. i

the frame 10. The bar is held from displacement in the frame 10 by a pin21. The outer end of the bar 19 is pivotally connectedto one end of acam 22, the latter being pivotally engaged with the clamp body 23. Theclamp body 23 includes an arm 24 which terininatesin a'loop'25-thro-ugh'whichthe bar19 is movably mounted. The top-ofthe bodyoverhangs the working face of the cam. 22 to provide a space betweensaid topand said cam in which the wire26 to be'stretched26 is mounted.To prevent displacement-of the wire from the clamp, a suitable latchmember 27 is provided which closes over theinouth of the clamp and has aportion of its free end bent outwardly "at right angles to provide a"finger-engaging portion 28 to facilitatemovement of the. latch. Oneend-of the latch is pivotally engaged wit-h the cam 22'while the--opposite end is frict-ionally engaged with the top of the clamp body.ltearward movement of the-latch is limited by the inner wall of therecess. An-abutment' 30 extends from the top of the clamp body, it beingadapted for engagement with the linemans stick in order to release theclamp from thewire in'a manner hereinafter set forth.

"The block 6 is equipped withan anchoring hook 31"which, in the presentinstance is.

"adapted to be anchored on aline pole and has the shank" 32 thereofextended for engagement i n' 'a complemental openingformed in the frame15. The shankis held'fromdisplac'ementin-"the frame by a locking bolt orpin 33 which extends" transversely through the shank. In this manner thehook is rigid -ly engagedwith the block but may be detached when desiredby'simply removing the 7 bolt or' pin 83.

' oft-he pole-in which position the tacklewijll be ca-usecl'to extendtransversely across'the to remove the hook 31 and to substitute there-,

for wire clamp means 11 which is associated with the frame or housing 15in the same manner'that the wire clamp -1-1 is engagedwith thehousing10. The housings l0 and 15 have bores of the same diameter sojthateachmay receive a-wire clamp or an anchor hookas desired; When the wireclamp means is engaged in both housings 10 and 15, it is necessary thatone ofthe clamps be engaged with the wire on'one side of the polean'dtheother clamp engagedwith the wire on the otherside cross-arm of the"pole. In orderto hold the *blocks in the desired proximity to' thewire, suitablehooks 34sare provided, one being piv,

ment of the wire; The lineman" thenengages his stick with the abutment30 so as to hold the clamp inafixed position on the wire while pressureis exerted uponthe blocks, which correspondingly exerts pressureuponeach of the bars 19 and causes the latter to actuate the oams intoengagement with the line. Once the line has been gripped, the linemanmay -disengage his stick 1 from the" abutment and pressuregcan beexerted on the tackle in order to move the blocks 5' and'6 toward 'eachother, until the slack has" been removed from the wire, after which theclamps inay 'be disen gaged 111*2111- obvious manner.

Under some conditionsit is possible -to "stretch the'wire on one'side'ofthe pole-without carrying the" block and tackle into proxim'ity to theline "wire. Where conditions permit this" course to be followed, "it ispreferable to use the form of wire clamp show-n in Figure 5 of thedrawings,'which embodies a Y bar 19 and a cylindrical terminal 20 Theterminal 20 isprov'ided ith the usual opening 35 which" in"; the form ofinvent-i611 shown in Figure l ofthedr awings, is adapted for thereception of 'the pin 21. "In addition, the cylindrical terminal 20 isequipped with a line'wire engaging hook' 361 and a rope supporting link-37. In use of this formyof the invention the clam'pis I engaged with thewire in the 'saine manner as the clamp's'hown in Figure 1;-*but the'block ii is remove'd from the b'ar and therope; engaged with the link37, so thatpressure'can be exerted on the bar 19. throughtheinedium ofthe rope instead of exciting pressure uponthe block 5. e

The ropewhich is engagedwith 3 the link 37v may consist of ta'ckle 13ormay be a separate rope which is engaged withthe'tackle. In

position on the ground in order to exert pres- I sure upon'the bar19tofcorrespondingly exert a pu1l1on'the line wire'or cable for drawingfittaut. 'Theopening 35 is adapted for the reception of astud formed on theline mans stick to act-uate'the bar' 19. I

In Figure'6, a linemans stick especially "adapted for use in connectionwith the pres-v .ent invention is illustrated. The stick asillustratedconsistsof a head 38 which maybe 7 of any desiredconfigurationand has a shank '39 issuingthere from, the ifree end ofwhich is. provided with a serewsthread ed recess 40 which is adapted forthereception' ofa'complemental shank '41 formed on one e'nd ofa "rod 42."Thehea'd 38 isprovided withthe opening43 adapte'd to be engagedmvertheuse of this form 'of' -inventiomthe' blocks and tackle may be anchoredinany convenient abutment 30 of the clamp for holding the latter in astationary position or moving the,

1 same at the option of the user. The head 88 is also'equipped with astud' l which is adapted for engagement in the opening 35 of thecylindrical terminal when the form of invention illustrated in Figure-5- is used. Immaterial ofhow the device of the present invention isused, it is manifest that it will be unnecessaryior the lineman to leavethe pole. Moreover, by providing blocks and tackle which are adapted forthe reception of I wire clamping means or come-alongs, as

, dangers to posed in taking It 1s, of course, rlousxchanges mayespecially in the details of construction, p'ro portionand arrangementof parts as come within the scope of the appended claims. 5 It isimportant,however, that thewire clamp and block be held in parallelrelation to the line wire andthat theiwire be secured fromdisplacement'in the clamp. It ismoreover, important that the connectionbetween the wire clamp and itsblock, and between the anchored hook andits block be rigid in order 1 to eliminate any play.

one ofsaid blocks, a wire engaging clamp carried by '1. A wire slackeliminating device including blocks and tackle equipped with ananchoring hookon one block and-a rigid but detachable clampon the otherblock, and means for securing the clamp to its block wherebyv relativemovement ,between said clamp and blockis eliminated.

, 2. A wire slack eliminator including blocks to effectively stretch thewire in a minimum -tion of the wire cable embracing means,"said meanscompris- I v ing wire" cable embracing elements, one of WlllCh ismovable, a bar to control movement of said element, and an abutmentonsaid 6. 'W1re slack ehmlnatlng devices 1nclud-- means to facilitatemovement of the bar;

ing blocks, each of which is equipped with a housing, a wire clampdetachably mounted,- in one of said housingsand an anchoringhook 1detachably mounted in the other housing, and

a tackle trained through said blocks tofiurge.

the latter together.

7. A'wire slack eliminati-ng'device includried by oneof saidblocks andprojecting beyond the faceof the latter to permit retenclamp meanscarrying. block, to retain the wire-in parallelism to the latter. a I 8.A wire slack eliminating device including blocks and tackle, a housing.carried by each block, an anchoring hook detachably wire clamp- 4mounted in one of said housings, ing means detachably mounted in theother housing g thereof extended beyond the block, and hooks carried bysaid blocks to pendently support the latter on the wire. Y

o THOMAS F. DUFFEY,

and tackle, an anchoring hook engaged with "rigidly but detachablyengaged with the other block, and a hook pivotally mounted on said wireclampsupporting block'ofor engagement over the line wire to retain theblock inlongi tudinal alignment with the clamp.

3 A Wire slack eliminating device includ- I an anchoring hook'ligidly'butdetachably engaged withone of a 1 rigidly but detach-;

ing blocks and tackle,

said blocks,a wire clamp I ably engaged with the other of said blocks,

, means to retain thewire from displacement in said clamp, and meansmounted on the block for engagement withthe wire to retain the blockin'p'arallel-relation to, the wire.

4. A'wire'slack'eliminating device includ- A A ing wire clamp :pingelements, equipped withan operating bar,

the operating bar to facilitate movement of the latter. 7

5. A wire slackeliminating device includoneof which is movablexand Linga block and tackle equipped with wire means embodying wiregripand means.ingblocks and tackle, wire clamp means car} beyond theplane of the ablock, and means mounted upon said'wire 90 havin the wire engagingportion

